VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #17, #18, #19

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018

Index of VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses. 33 issues addressed 

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Regional Office 

Response to Objections on the Village at Wolf Creek Access Project, Rio Grande National Forest

My post of the "Index of the VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses" has been amazingly well visited.  Ironically, I also put together a series of posts of highlights from those 33 responses.  Then I ran out of steam and it didn't seem important, and other matters were, and I was gone, now I'm thinking perhaps it's more important than I thought and that it would be good to post them after all.

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United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Regional Office 

Response to Objections on the Village at Wolf Creek Access Project, Rio Grande National Forest 

November 2018  

Village at Wolf Creek Access Project Draft 11/15/18
Objection Issues and Responses 

Contents 

Issue 17: The proposed decision would violate standards, guidelines, and objectives for lynx conservation

Issue 18: Spruce bark beetle impacts on lynx habitat requires additional analysis

Issue 19: The proposed conservation measures would not be effective in reducing impacts to lynx nor promoting recovery to a full, viable population

Climate Change and the Forests of the West (Keeling Lecture)

The Keeling Lecture

Dr. Steve Running

Climate Change and the Forests of the West   

UCTV - Perspectives on Ocean Science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLL7t3tF7z8

University of California Television (UCTV)

Uploaded on Jun 10, 2010

Dr. Steve Running, a Regents Professor in the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana, discusses the paradox of why forests in the West are growing faster while simultaneously suffering from higher die-off rates. 

Running was the IPCC lead author on a 2007 WG1 report analyzing North America's contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide and its impacts on the global climate. 
Series: "Perspectives on Ocean Science" [6/2010] [Science] [Show ID: 18197]

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introduction to the "Keeling Curve" and CO2 observations…
and how that ties into understanding global growth patterns

11:40  Image of our thin atmosphere against the Earth's horizon

28:30  Great satellite view of ten years worth of the whole Earth's seasons unfurling.

32:20  two week longer growing season in Northern US
33:50  April snow pack (snow water equivalent) 1950 - 2000

34:30  Tim Barnett, et al. 2008 paper, Western States spring snowpack 1950 - 2006

(Montana March temps are up 7°F )

38:00  Wild fire - Westerling, et al. 2006 - fire season 78 days longer - increased fires above 6500ft

43:00  Bark Beetles and warming winters

45:30  Montana absolute low temps have warmed 15°F in past 15 years!

48:40  Raffa, et al. - bark beetle study

49:00  Van Mantgem, et al 2009 - Background mortality rates Western forests

51:00  Stability of natural carbon sinks?

… Carbon Monitoring

53:30  Planetary Boundaries

http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Rockstroem-Sachs-Oehman-Schmidt-Traub_Sustainable-Development-and-Planetary-Boundaries.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries

55:00   A thank you to David Keeling.

The changing face of our forests - bark beetle and global warming

This is an article I wrote for the Four Corners Free Press out of Cortez, Colorado.  

It's the culmination of my day listening in on the "San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop" {which was organized by the Western Water Assessment and Mountain Studies Institute} plus discussions with some participants.

In particular, I thank Mike Blakeman from the Rio Grande National Forest.  Although Mike was a spectator, he has a scientific background and has a long standing familiarity with the developing scientific understanding.  He spent a good deal of time clarifying and offering further details, not all of which made it into this essay.  

Of course, any errors are mine alone and I will gladly fix any that are pointed out to me.  At the end of this essay I include links to authoritative information sources.

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Have you ever driven over Wolf Creek Pass, the one in southern Colorado straddling the Great Divide? At 10,857 ft. elevation, it's an example of America at its most magnificent; with high mountains and spruce forests stretching out in every direction.

VWC-DEIS 1.6.5 Climate and Air Quality

{revised 9/2/12}
Reviewing the VWC-DEIS you'll notice a number of points worth a closer look. To facilitate that I will use this blog for my study notes, organized into single issue threads. Each will quote the USDA Forest Service - Village at Wolf Creek Access Project - Draft Environmental Impact Statement section in question.


{For clarity I have added breaks between sentences and highlights where appropriate.  Wording has not been altered.}
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Draft Environmental Impact Statement - Village at Wolf Creek Access Project

United States Department of Agriculture

USDA Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Region
Rio Grande National Forest
Divide Ranger District
Mineral County, Colorado

1.6.5 Climate and Air Quality